Monday Morning Quarterback
by Lanie L Sullivan
Summary: #4 in the Francine/Beaman series. It's Monday now. How will the new couple handle their first day back at the office? What will the ramifications of the day lead to?
1. Come Monday

Disclaimer: "Scarecrow and Mrs. King" is copyrighted to Warner Brothers and Shoot the Moon Productions. I retain rights to the plot, but not the characters. This story is meant for enjoyment purposes only. No infringement is intended.

AN: This is the next in the "Date" series to explore the budding relationship between Francine and Beaman. What happens when they have to go back to work on Monday morning.

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Francine walked into the office on Monday morning with mixed feelings. On the one hand, she was elated that she and Beaman had had such a great weekend, on the other, she was a bit saddened that it was already Monday and time to get back to work. She also was overcome with a feeling of dread at what Roxanne might say to people. She knew after their confrontation with Patterson over the weekend, he was sure not to say anything, but the buxom blonde was another story. She hurried off to the accounting office to find her before she could start running her mouth about what she'd seen. When she arrived, she heard Amanda's voice through the open door of Roxanne's office. In a sweet tone she was asking the voluptuous vixen if she'd had a nice weekend.

"Um...s-s-sure," Roxanne stammered, knowing she'd been seen. "You know, it's...uh...nice to get out of town for a weekend."

Just as Francine reached the open doorway, she saw Roxanne seeming to have gained her bearings shooting Amanda a knowing grin. "You?

Amanda with her voice dripping with innuendo replied, "Amazing!" She paused, gave Francine an 'I got this" look and then turned her attention back to Roxanne. "You know, I just thought I would check on you because when Lee and I ran into you, you had that nasty bruise on your wrist. I'm a mother, you know, and I...well, I just can't help worrying about people." She reached for the accountant's wrist. "This one. Still healing, I see. You know, you really should tell Patterson in Payroll to take a little more care."

Roxanne turned crimson. "I-I-I don't know what you're talking about. I have carpal tunnel." She wrenched her wrist from Amanda's grasp and rubbed the purplish area. "That's from the brace that I have to wear. From all the typing that I do," she added bitterly.

Amanda let out a dramatic sigh. "Gee, that's too bad."

"Is it terribly painful?" Francine chimed in as she gave her a murderous look.

"Uh..." Roxanne hedged.

Francine cast a conspiratorial glance at Amanda. "'Because you know, we ALL know what Patterson's tastes are like and I seem to recall seeing him there this weekend too."

When there was no reply from Roxanne, Amanda jumped in again. "You know, it would be a shame if someone thought the two of you were together this weekend seeing as how you're trying to work your way up around here."

Roxanne narrowed her eyes at Amanda. "Well, not all of us are screwing Scarecrow." She paused dramatically and then added with a withering gaze, "Just most. You may know Patterson's reputation, but _everyone_ knows Stetson's."

Amanda unfazed by Roxanne's comments, nodded in acknowledgement. "Hard to keep secrets around an intelligence agency. Too many people good at figuring things out...but since you saw us this weekend, you should have figured out that he was with me...ALL weekend. And you'll notice that the ladies in Steno haven't had any stories to tell about him in quite a long time. Can you say the same about Patterson?"

Roxanne snorted. "And you're supposed to be this wholesome PTA mom. I knew that had to be a lie. No one's that good."

"PTA mom, yes, wholesome? Hmm..." She paused with a pensive look for a moment before adding, "Well, let's just say that our PTA is more like Harper Valley than Sweet Valley."

Roxanne folded her arms across her chest. "What do you want?"

"Want? Me? Nothing?" She paused. "And I DO mean _nothing_. No talk of anything that you saw this weekend."

"Other than the ceiling of your hotel room," Francine chimed in with a malicious grin. "Of course, even then, I wouldn't advertise who you were with. Amanda makes a good point. If you want to move up around here, the last thing you want is to be associated with a perv like Patterson."

"And what were YOU doing this weekend with Beaman?" Roxanne spat caustically at Francine. "Since I _know_ Beaman, I bet you spent some time staring at the ceiling too."

Francine shook her head. "Oh, no, I don't stare at the ceiling. Haven't you learned by now that I like to be the one in control? Besides, if you really know Beaman, you should know that he's not the type to...kiss and tell."

Amanda smiled at Francine and then nodded to Roxanne. "So, it's best all around if no one talks about anything they saw this weekend. I mean, if you want to be a good agent someday, you have to learn how to keep secrets, Roxanne. Right, Francine?"

"Right, especially when one of the people who knows your dirty little secret reports directly to Billy."

"Well, and I work with the top agent in field section who also happens to be good friends with Billy." She and Francine exchanged looks again before she turned to Roxanne once more. "Are we clear?"

Roxanne swallowed hard and nodded.

"Good," Francine replied as she and Amanda walked away together.

"Amanda, you know, I-" She stopped cold. What the hell could she say to Amanda now that she knew that she was married to Lee?

They paused at the elevator. Amanda pushed the call button and then turned to the blonde. "Francine, you don't have to say anything. I'll make you a deal. You agree to keep things to yourself, so will I."

Francine smiled knowingly. "About what?" She couldn't help wondering though if Amanda would be this agreeable if she knew that she, Francine, knew her secret too.

Amanda smiled back. "Good."

"Where are you headed now?" Francine asked as the elevator doors opened.

"Covert Ops Class," Amanda answered as they stepped into the elevator together. "Beaman's got me doing a lot of class work right now since I still haven't been cleared for full-time field work by Dr. Kelford."

"Hmmm...funny. I seem to recall when we ran into Lee this weekend, he told us rather gloatingly that you'd been cleared to resume all your normal activities."

"By my own doctor," Amanda explained. "But the Agency's standards are a bit more rigorous. I have to be cleared by the doctors here too and go through a round with Dr Pain."

Francine cringed. "Ouch."

"Yeah, but it'll be worth it if I can get back to normal."

"I thought that was what you were doing this weekend," Francine teased with a wicked grin. "How'd that negligee work out for you?"

Amanda smiled and fired back, "I'll show you mine if you show me yours. How was your date with Beaman?"

"What date?" she questioned obtusely. "Who said we were dating?"

Amanda chuckled and shook her head as the elevator opened and she headed toward her class, but found herself surprised to see Francine tagging along. "Are you coming with me? Surely, you don't need Covert Ops class," she jested. "I mean, aren't you the one who's always telling everyone how highly trained you are?"

"Oh, well, I just need to talk to Beaman for a second...you know...because Billy needs an update on the status of the trainees...how they're doing in class and all." While she thought she had a good reason to give Amanda for wanting to visit Beaman, she couldn't help the slight flush that crept into her cheeks as she reflected on the weekend they'd spent together.

"Ah," Amanda replied, but couldn't help smirking at the obviousness of Francine's cover story. "Maybe I was wrong. Maybe you _do_ need a refresher in Covert Ops," she added as she entered the classroom.

"Crap," Francine grumbled. She'd blown it and she knew it, so might as well bite the bullet. She gestured through the open door of the classroom at Beaman.

A wide grin crossed his face when he saw her and he approached the doorway. In a forced whisper, he asked, "You haven't changed your mind about tonight, have you?"

"No, not at all. Still looking forward to our night...in," she flashed him a seductive smirk. "Just wanted to let you know that everything's taken care of with Roxanne. She won't be running her mouth anytime soon, not if she knows what's good for her."

He nodded. "Good. We'd hate to have it all over the office and be the butt of everyone's jokes. Better to keep it just between us for now."

"Well, Lee and Amanda know too," she reminded him with a gesture to Amanda in the classroom, "But I know she won't say anything."

"And I've got my trump card if Stetson starts giving us a hard time," he pointed out.

"True."

"So, you wanna' tell me what happened with Roxanne?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a pair of trainees pushing past them into the classroom. "Uh..." She let out a sigh of disappointment.

"Yeah." He glanced at the slowly filling room in consternation. "I should go."

"I'll tell you tonight. My place. I'll order the pizza. Just don't forget to bring that video."


	2. That Monday Morning Feeling

Francine entered her apartment that evening and walked straight to the phone to order the pizza for dinner as she'd promised, half and half, grilled chicken and pineapple for her, pepperoni and mushrooms for him. When she completed her call, she made her way to her bedroom to get ready for her date's arrival.

She smiled as she stripped out of her work clothes and into a well broken-in pair of jeans and a light pullover. Beaman had insisted that unless they were going someplace fancy, she continue to dress casually. When she'd balked at that, he'd explained that he wanted her to be comfortable and that she didn't have to dress like a supermodel in designer clothes to impress him. She had to admit, even if only to herself, that she was really starting to like it. It was refreshing to be with a man who didn't expect her to be the perfect fashion plate all the time.

She thought back to their first date and how she's compared him to Andrew McCarthy's character and herself to Kim Cattrall's in _Mannequin_ and found that she couldn't have come up with a more accurate depiction of the two of them. She was always trying to be what everyone else wanted her to be and had been that way since childhood when she had attempted to live up to what her mother's proper expectation of a "lady" was. That is, until that fateful day that she'd veered off-course from her mother's plan for her, and changed her class schedule at Sarah Lawrence drastically from the general liberal arts degree that they'd so meticulously planned together. She snorted as she reflected on that.

She entered her kitchen to open the bottle of wine she'd planned to have with their pizza. As she poured two glasses, she recalled that the only thing that her mother's plans for her would have been good for was getting her the "MRS" degree as many of her classmates had called it. Had she followed her mother's meticulously plotted path, she would now have a useless education and be nothing more than a trophy wife to a rich husband. Boy, had they gone round and round over that decision.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. For the first time, she was anticipating this date without being nervous about it. She looked forward just to spending time with him and now that they'd gotten past the third date with no expectations on either side, she wondered how things might progress going forward. She eagerly hurried to the living room, set the wine glasses down on the coffee table and opened the door to find him standing there dressed in a similar fashion to her own attire.

"Come on in." She beamed at him as she opened the door wide enough to allow him inside her private domain. This was the first time in a long time that she'd agreed to a date at her place...with anyone. The last time was with... She shook her head. _No, don't go there,_ she scolded herself. That had been five years ago and was long over. As soon as she closed the door, she greeted Beaman with a long, lingering kiss. When it ended, she flushed slightly and whispered, "Hi."

He smiled warmly at her and responded, "Hi," as he slipped one arm around her waist.

"So, what's in the bag?" She nodded to his other hand. "I thought you were just bringing the _Heavy Metal Parking Lot_ video."

"Oh, I did bring it," he assured her. "But it's less than twenty minutes long, so I brought another one too. I mean, you want our date to last longer than twenty minutes, right?"

"You'd be surprised how many 'dates' I've had that were shorter than that," she quipped.

"Well, that's one thing you'll never have to worry about with me," he fired back with a smile, but Francine couldn't help noticing the shadow that crossed his face at her crack.

She decided to change the subject to cover the awkwardness she now felt at her thoughtless comment. "So, what else did you bring?"

"It's a surprise." He reached into the bag. "This one first." He held up the promised video.

"Well, if it's as short as you say, it'll be just the right length to wait for our dinner to get here."

"That was the plan," he affirmed as he led her to the sofa and then got the video started before he sat beside her and placed the bag he'd brought with him on the floor in front of his side of the couch.

"So, you're really not going to tell me what else you brought?" she pouted.

He shook his head. "Nope."

"Not even a hint?"

"Mm-mm."

"Well, then I'll just have to find out for myself, won't I?" She reached across him for the bag, but he snatched it first and pushed it further away from her.

"Come on, I'm a spy! You know you can't keep secrets from me." She lunged for it and as they both grappled for the bag, she soon found herself lying atop him, both of them breathing heavily. He reached for her, pulling her down to him for another kiss, this one more passionate than any they'd shared previously. She ran her fingers through his thick hair, reveling in feeling of it in her hands, his lips on hers... As things began to grow more heated, the moment was interrupted by the blaring guitar riffs of Judas Priest.

"The...uh...the video," he panted as he gently pushed her away from him and sat up.

"Right...the video," she responded as she tried not to let the disappointment she felt show in her tone.

As they watched the rockumentary and laughed at the craziness on it, Beaman suddenly cried out, "Hey, was that you?"

"What?" She gaped at him with a startled expression. "Where?"

He reached for the remote and rewound the tape just a bit and then paused it. "That's it! Right there!" He looked at her awe-struck. "It's just for a tiny second, but that's definitely you."

"How can you tell? It's so blurry, you can barely see anything." She grabbed the remote from him and played it. "Besides the scene is gone so fast, you can barely make out anything. That could be any blonde woman."

He laughed uproariously. "You did say you were there," he reminded her with a shake of his head and then added, "Who'd have ever thought it? Francine Desmond, the definition of decorum and professionalism, tailgating at a Judas Priest concert."

"You can't prove that's me," she argued.

"No, but I bet if I worked with the A/V guys at the office and did some computer enhancements, I could," he teased.

"You wouldn't dare!"

He shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not." A thought occurred to him then, "Oh, that reminds me, you never did tell me what happened with Roxanne."

"Oh, right! You'll love this one," she promised. She related how she and Amanda had tag-teamed his former flame while the video played and they laughed together about it.

He reciprocated by telling her that Lee had accosted him after his morning class. "You should have seen him, all bluster and swagger, making all these threats as if he could intimidate me."

"So, what'd you do?"

"I just gently reminded him that I'm a computer expert and that certain activities leave a paper trail, no matter how hard you try to keep them hidden. I don't think he'll be spilling his guts any time soon."

"I bet not," she laughed as she imagined the scared little boy look that must have been on Lee's face.

When the video ended, Francine clicked it off and questioned, "So, now are you going to tell me what's in the bag?"

He nodded as he reached for it and pulled out the contents, a plastic videocassette case used for storing homemade videos. When she looked at him strangely, he told her, "Look at the label."

" _Mannequin_?" She squealed in delight. "How'd you manage to get your hands on this when the movie's still playing in theatres?"

"I told you I have my own connections," he reminded her. "That's for you...a gift."

"Really? This is amazing." She leaned toward him to give him a kiss when her phone rang. She let out a sigh just as there was also a knock on the door. "That's probably the pizza. Would you mind getting that so I can get the phone?"

He nodded and headed to the door, making idle chit-chat with the pizza delivery guy while Francine chatted on the phone, though from what he heard, she was doing more listening than talking.

Beaman closed the door just as Francine hung up the phone with a sorrowful, "Thanks for letting me know, Billy."

He looked at her in concern when he saw the worried expression on her face. "What is it?"

"Nathaniel Brody escaped from prison," she answered as she sank down on the sofa and buried her face in her hands. While she'd immensely enjoyed relaxing with Beaman on her weekend off and had tried for once to forget about work during that time, it was clear that they were now back on the job and the fun was over.


	3. Monday Night Fool's Ball

Author's Note: I had marked this installment of the "date" series complete, but then my muse had other ideas, so here's a third chapter to continue the saga.

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 _Nathaniel Brody escaped from prison,_ Francine's words kept echoing through Beaman's head as he saw how upset she was. He quickly set the pizza box down on the coffee table, sat beside her and lightly touched her shoulder "Are you okay?"

When she finally looked back at him, she shook her head slowly, not quite able to form the proper words yet. She leaned against him and he put an arm around her. They sat in silence for several minutes as silent tears slipped down her cheeks and she buried her face in his comforting shoulder.

"I don't understand," he told her in confusion when her quiet sobs had subsided a bit. "I mean, I know it's never good when a criminal escapes from prison, but I don't think I've ever seen you this upset over such a thing."

She sniffled and took a deep breath to compose herself as she raised her head to look at him. "That's not all," she began. "I told you that was Billy on the phone, but that's not everything. Brody not only escaped from prison, but killed one of Lee's contacts too. Billy said he got a frantic call from Amanda because she's worried about Lee; she said he's hell-bent on re-capturing Brody no matter what."

"Isn't that a good thing? I mean, getting Brody back in prison where he belongs?"

She nodded. "Yes, but I don't think you know the whole story. You were still in Fabrications that last time Lee butted heads with Brody and it nearly got him killed." A shiver ran down her spine as she thought of just how close she'd come to losing her best friend. "Billy said that Amanda told him he's trying to be all John Wayne and go it alone and asked if I thought I could try to talk some sense into him."

He let out a sigh and abruptly rose from his seat. "So, that's what this is about...Stetson... _again_."

"What are you talking about? Don't I have a right to worry about my friends?"

"Sure, if that's all it is," he spat. He still hadn't forgotten the heated words he'd had with the other man earlier in the day, nor how she's spent a good chunk of their first date chasing after him. "You remember that he's married, right?"

She stood to even the playing field and gave him a withering look. "Is that what you think this is about? Do you honestly think I'd be here with you tonight if I thought that way?"

He shook his head. "No, I guess not. I just...I was just thrown by all of this with the way you were so upset and when you mentioned Lee, I-."

"Well, you should note that I said friends-plural, not _friend_. I'm worried about Amanda too. She still hasn't been fully cleared for active field duty and she wants to help, but I got the impression from Billy that Lee won't let her."

"I'm sorry for jumping the gun," he apologized. He gestured to the door. "If you...uh...if you want me to go, I will."

She thought about it for a moment, but then when she thought about how he'd just held her when she was crying, she shook her head. "No. In fact, I'd like it very much if you stayed." Her thoughts jumped back to the heated make-out session between them earlier and how she'd hoped then that he would stay the whole night.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I'm sure. The way Billy talked, we wouldn't be able to do anything tonight since Lee's not answering his phone anyway. Besides, the pizza just got delivered and it's not as if I'm going to touch the pepperoni and mushroom half I ordered for you."

"You remember my favorite pizza toppings," he replied with a warm smile as he reached for her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"You did bring one of my favorite movies to watch, so I think we're kind of even there." She gave him an apologetic look. "I'm sorry too. I just...well, you know how this business can be when we're always at risk of losing people we care about." The more she thought about it, the more she realized that in their line of work, bad stuff was always going to happen, so why shouldn't they enjoy every bit of good stuff they could?

He nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I do."

"Why don't I go get some plates while you get the movie set up?" she suggested.

"You got it." He released her hand to pick up the movie and change out the tapes and had just finished his task when she returned to the room.

Once the couple had finished their pizza, they cuddled up together on the sofa and the evening progressed without another misunderstanding...that is, until the movie was over and the theme song played over the closing credits. When Francine began singing along as she'd done on their first date when they'd shared a slow dance, he couldn't help grinning at her.

"What?" she questioned when she caught him gazing at her intently. "I really like that song."

"I remember," he whispered softly as he shifted to pull her closer, vividly recalling how he'd held her on the dance floor a few nights ago. He lightly brushed his lips against hers as if testing the waters after their little tiff earlier.

Their lips met again and he tightened his arms around her while she slipped her hands under his sweater to explore the bare skin of his back. She flicked her tongue against his lips and sighed in contentment when he opened his mouth to allow her greater access. He worked his hands upward until they tangled in her long, thick hair as their kisses grew more heated.

When the need for oxygen became too great, she pulled back for a moment to catch her breath. "Wow," she gasped as her heart pounded.

"Yeah," he agreed with a grin.

Once she was able to breathe a little more normally, she gave him a flirty smile and hinted, "You know when I said I wanted you to stay, I...um...I didn't just mean for the pizza and the movie."

"I-I-I-" he stammered. He remembered all too well the rumors he'd heard around the Agency about her not being much different than Lee when it came to that subject and while he wanted to believe those things had been just as exaggerated in her case as they had been in Lee's, he wasn't sure he was ready to take that chance. He was enjoying just being with her now that she'd finally noticed him and he didn't want to take the chance that that would end if they took things too far too fast.

"You what?" she questioned as she moved away from him and gaped at him in surprise. "You don't want to...um...stay?"

"It's...uh...it's not that I don't want to...I j-just...I don't think we're ready for that yet."

"Speak for yourself," she mumbled.

"Listen, I had a great time tonight...you know, other than our little...er...misunderstanding, but I...uh...I think I should get home. We both have to be at work early in the morning and I'm sure you'll have your hands full with this Brody thing."

 _Damn you for using logic I can't argue with,_ she thought bitterly. "Yeah, you're right. That makes sense. For what it's worth, I had a good time tonight too. Maybe we could do something again tomorrow?"

"I can't tomorrow. I have a night class for my Covert Ops trainees," he explained apologetically. "But I'll call you." He gave her one more quick kiss and made his way out the door.

"I'll call you," she mimicked after he'd left. "Yeah, right," she muttered as she sank back against the sofa and let out a deep sigh. She knew all too well just what that meant.


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